MAXQDA

Frequency count of coded segments

28.11.2020, 12:35

Hi MAXQDAer,

I was wondering if MAXQDA can count the frequency of different segments I coded (ideally can be distinguished between different document groups). I have tried different functions on MAXQDA but no luck for me. Did I miss something?

Any comments would be appreciated.

Gang

Version: MAXQDA 2020
System: Mac OS X 10.13 (High Sierra)
ygjose
 
Posts: 14
Joined: 17.02.2020, 23:11

Re: Frequency count of coded segments

04.12.2020, 13:28

Dear Gang,

thank you for your question! MAXQDA usually counts Coded Segments. Therefore, if a section of text is coded with two codes it is counted twice. But I assume you want to count each segment only once?

In this case a workaround might be the simplest solution:
- Activate all documents & codes
- All coded segments are now displayed in the List of Coded Segments
- Click at "code with new code"
- Use a code for example "Segments"

Now all coded segments in your project are additionally coded with a code called "Segments". Because each code can only be used on the same section of text once, all "duplicates" will disappear. The number of segments should be much smaller and in fact have the total number of segments. This "Segments Code" you can then use with all analysis tools like Code Matrix Browser, Compare Groups etc. to identify the frequency for specific groups.

I hope this helps! If not, or in case of any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact us again.

Best regards on behalf of the MAXQDA support team,

Andreas
Andreas M.
 
Posts: 72
Joined: 21.02.2020, 14:02

Re: Frequency count of coded segments

04.12.2020, 19:29

Hi Andreas,

Thanks for your reply. Perhaps I did not explain my previous question clearly.

Basically I want something like the table generated by "Word frequencies (MAXDictio)". It should give me the frequency of each coded segment. For example, I read all my documents one by one, find and code "however" with certain category in all of them. And I have about 400 words and phrases like "however" coded. In the end, I want to know the frequency count of each of these 400 words and phrases. In another words, how many times each of them have been coded.

Now you might suggest that I should use MAXDictio, type those 400 words and phrases in "Dictionary", and finally use "Word frequencies (only words from the dictionary)". I know that, but the problem is that words and phrases that match the Dictionary should not necessarily be coded , because, say, "however" in this very context does not fit any category I listed. So I need to manually remove those unwanted ones. But the "Word frequencies (only words from the dictionary)" does not care if I already removed some bad ones and only give me the frequency of all matches. This is reason I gave up "Word frequencies (only words from the dictionary)" in the end.

So, I came here to ask if anyone comes up any good workarounds so that MAXQDA can tell me how many times each of these 400 words and phrases has been coded (not "matched").

All the best,

Gang
ygjose
 
Posts: 14
Joined: 17.02.2020, 23:11

Re: Frequency count of coded segments

14.12.2020, 11:42

Hi Gang,

Having read your question and explanation, I thought about Code Matrix Browser and the Sum option, which displays the sum of rows (coded segments in a code) and columns (documents). This could tell you how many times a certain code has been used across all your data (or only in activated documents). Have you already considered this function as well?

Best regards,

Aikokul
Aikokul
 
Posts: 90
Joined: 19.07.2019, 09:48

Re: Frequency count of coded segments

14.12.2020, 13:50

Hi Aikokul,

Thanks for your reply. I tried "Code Matrix Browser". It only tells me how many times a certain code has been used across documents or document groups (see Fig. 1), but what I want is that it can tell me how many times a certain coded segment has been coded across documents or document groups (see Fig. 2).

Fig.1


Fig. 2


All the best,

Gang
ygjose
 
Posts: 14
Joined: 17.02.2020, 23:11

Re: Frequency count of coded segments

14.12.2020, 14:14

Hi Gang,

now I see what you mean. This would be definitely a new feature for MAXQDA, as far as I see. Let me take this up for our user feature wishlist and send it to our developers for further analysis. Sorry that I was not able to help you with this. Maybe, others from the community have an elegant way to solve it?

With best regards,

Aikokul
Aikokul
 
Posts: 90
Joined: 19.07.2019, 09:48

Re: Frequency count of coded segments

14.12.2020, 17:30

Hi Aikokul,

It would be great to see this feature in a future update. Many thanks anyway!
ygjose
 
Posts: 14
Joined: 17.02.2020, 23:11

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